Everything That's Wrong with Us
by xDelfin
Summary: xDelfin: Eight shots of heartbreak with nothing to do but drink it all in. Fighting. Hurting. Thinking. The end result, the worst kind of hangover; the kind that just won't go away. SasuNaruSasu, some GaaNaru / Eight chapters / Rated T to be safe / ξήζσγ
1. Part I

_**A/N: For all the fights, break ups, heartbreaks, tears, I present it to you in a SasuNaruSasu bundle of eight shots. I've been looking for a good fic where they fight and stuff (bringing in that rivalry-energy alongside everything that makes them a pairing), but I never really found exactly what I wanted. So I wrote one for me. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the dialogue. Every word has been scraped off the dura mater of my skull. The characters, however, are not mine xJ**_

_**Pairings: GaaNaru, SasuNaruSasu.**_

_**Warnings: Rationalized Insanity. I'm totally serious.**_

_**Your Humble Servant  
>xDelfin<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Everything That's Wrong with Us<strong>

**Part One**

Gaara leant against the open doorframe, openly observing the blond nineteen-year-old sitting on his bed. The whole room, deserted not long ago by another, stayed smack with the dankness and ill-favour. Gaara watched as the blond tried desperately to de-stress from what had just transpired, and watched as he'd fail miserably with each attempt. Naruto had put down his head but for a few moments before the twenty-year-old finally decided to speak up.

"Tell me something, Uzumaki." His words, though they flowed easily, were also sharp and drew all attention to its resonance. "Was I just a rebound?" Still leaning against the doorframe, he supported himself with one foot, the other's ankle crossed over and toeing at the floor, his arms loosely folded in front of him.

"No. You weren't," was the muffled, but sure response.

Gaara hummed thoughtfully.

An immeasurable pause passed between them, and Naruto didn't know whether to be thankful, or tear his own hair out at having had to sit through such a similar instance in succession to the one just prior. It was both too long and too soon before the redhead spoke once again.

"You'd just broken up when I first asked you out," he started. "You didn't tell me, but I could see it on your face. I knew you weren't over him and maybe that was my fault." Gaara scrunched his face at the cliché explanation, "Maybe, the timing wasn't right." Cliché or not, the words applied; he wasn't blaming Naruto, as he would have tried to do the same, had he been in his position. A new love can heal a broken heart. And so who wouldn't want to rush into being mended? No, Naruto couldn't be blamed.

Gaara was suddenly at Naruto's side, a fact noted when the teen felt a slender hand drop to his shoulder. "Thank you," he said gently, "for saying those things. For remembering to think about me in that kind of a situation." He dropped his voice even lower, "That means a lot. But I don't think we should see each other anymore." Naruto didn't flinch, but kept his eyes trained forward, just above the sleeve of his sweater.

"I know that you may care about me the same way I care about you. But I'm looking for someone to love me with their whole heart –who has me in the forefront of their mind. Not as a lingering sentiment of someone else. And definitely not in the shadow of somebody else's mistake." Naruto's gaze dropped to the bedding in front of him at all Gaara was saying, trying to process yet more information, soaking it in is as best as he could. "I know you understand what I mean, Uzumaki. I know because you want that too."

They were the same. It was why they got along so well. But for Naruto to feel complete, perhaps he needed an opposite. Naruto and Gaara were two pieces of the same puzzle. They fit together fine and understood each other well enough. But in the grand scheme of things, the big picture of their lives, there would always be an edge, a crack between them that neither of them could ever fill.

Someone like Naruto was much-deserving of a chance to be part of a perfect picture. Who was he to stop him?

_**TBC**_

_**YHS  
><strong>__**xDelfin**_

* * *

><p><em><strong><em><strong>AN: When I wrote this, it wasn't in order. I figured I could put it in order in the end and to just spit out everything I wanted first, but then… it didn't work out. So the following chapters are not in chronological order. Two chapters are an exception, but it will be blindingly obvious. Also, I find that when you fight, things tend to double back, if not even more, therefore it is like there is no order at all! Totally imo. Feel free to share your own opinions! :D<strong>_**_


	2. Part II

**Everything That's Wrong with Us**

**Part Two**

"It's been… months."

"Four months."

"Four-four months," Sasuke amended. "since we've…" Sasuke let the rest of the sentence die away, but the implicating tone had had its affect on Naruto the moment it slipped from his lips.

Naruto spoke with an assuring intent. "Sasuke, we're still friends."

"It's not the same."

"Only because you don't want it to be," he frowned. "If you just tried-."

"I have.. tried," he said quietly, as if the softness with which he said it could alter the underlying feelings he held behind them. "But after all that we've been through, even though these past three months doesn't outweigh the number of years before that… it still changes things," he said shaking his head. "You can't expect me to look at you the same way!"

Naruto flinched a bit. He'd had a feeling that Sasuke hadn't let go, but to have it out in the open like this… He hadn't expected it to hurt any less and yet he was still sitting there, taken aback with every word. Now wasn't that something?

"But after you leave," the raven continued with surprising softness. It was almost said with a little hint "I don't think I'll be able to look at you… at all. Never mind in what _way_." of bitterness.

This boy had not only _not_ moved on, but he was bitter about it. It was there in his words. It was there on his face!

Naruto had to keep his head about this. "We're still gonna see each other after this," he said with a smile, encouragement and positivity virulent in his demeanour. He readjusted his position on the bed, leaning forward on his tucked legs, toward his friend in the hopes that he'd lift his spirits even just a little. "I'm going to be gone for a month. That's nothing! You and I are gonna be living in the same city at least for the first three years." Sasuke looked up and pierced him with stormy obsidian eyes. "And then after that-."

"I.. love you."

Naruto's words died in his mouth. The breathing he'd supposedly had down to instinct had a couple of problems executing for the next few moments that seemed to draw on forever. If Naruto had been looking through glass, by now, there would have definitely been a single crack, streaking straight through his vision.

Sasuke's eyes broke the optic assault, choosing to lower his gaze while he started fiddling with the zipper of his navy blue jacket. "I know I didn't get to say it before, and I've wanted to …for a while, but we've been fighting for the most of these past few months. So whatever, I'm saying it now!" He felt distressed. He felt awkward for letting such words escape him and to still be part of the family known as Uchiha. Those chosen words, the manner in which they were revealed and the last name he called his own didn't mix. He felt exposed, vulnerable; completely open, should his heart be made into a target.

"Because… I do-" _Love you._ "I am-" _In love with you._

Looking around, for something new to look at, he spotted a few things on Naruto's dresser. A few things that he knew didn't belong to his friend. He scowled darkly and surveyed his surroundings a bit more. "I know you're with him now. And judging by the amount of stuff he has in your room and in those boxes," he swallowed quickly to avoid a noticeable break in his voice. "you're meaning for this one to last …and that he's going with you."

It was definitely a bitter pill that he needed to spit out.

Naruto could only stare at him, as it settled into his very tongue.

What a horrid taste.

_**TBC**_


	3. Part III

_**A/N: Hey guys, thanks for the favourites! Feedback would also be appreciated :]**_

**Part Three of Eight**

"You've already decided once that you didn't want me around, that there were more important things for you to mind and other things that deserved your efforts. And that's fine! I mean great, make your own decisions; they're yours to make.

"But you were able to make that kind of decision about _me_." His fingertips jabbed into his own chest. "So there's nothing stopping you from making it again. Except I'm not _letting_ you this time. I'm not yours anymore; I won't allow it to get to that!

"I don't want ever to be hit with the feeling that someone I deeply cared about, not only doesn't care for me back, but cares so much less about me, that he doesn't even want to stick around, that he gave up on me."

_Not once, -when we were together; when we had a moment to ourselves; when I thought for a second that nothing else mattered- did you say that you wanted the same as me. It was going _nowhere_. And before we even thought to fix it, you'd already given up. Given _me_ up._

"I was a mess without you, Sasuke. I don't _ever_ want to feel that way again."

Sasuke's head snapped up at the pitying, condescending, self-loathing attitude. It prickled his skin to hear it in such a manner, so he tacked on a layer of something completely different to compensate for it. "Do you want me to beg? Is that what you want?" He abruptly got to his feet. For that instance, he completely misled his words with his actions and he contradicted his voice with his eyes.

Naruto scrunched up his face. Uchiha Sasuke was the proudest man in the world. His massive ego would physically stop him from doing anything with the intent of begging.

So when the very same Uchiha Sasuke was suddenly kneeling on his floor at his feet, he didn't know what to do with himself. "What the hell are you doing? Get up."

His head bowed, he spoke in earnest. "Naruto, I need you."

"Sasuke, Get up," he said slightly panicky.

And though it should have been hard to formulate, "Please give me another chance." it slipped out without a second thought.

"I said get up!"

Sasuke raised his head defiantly, so Naruto gripped the man's arm and roughly shoved him to his full stature. Then looking into his eyes, he spoke firmly. "There is nothing you can do that will make me change my mind. You said you wanted something. And now you're suddenly going back on your word? _Your_ word? And what if you decide one day, just as suddenly, that you don't want me anymore? Again. What then? I. REFUSE."

"It would never get to that!"

"So now you've planned out the rest of both our lives? Are you even listening to yourself?"

"Why won't you give me another chance?"

"Because it's no longer a chance for you to get, okay? It's done. We're done. We've _been_ done, so why should I? Just walk away, Sasuke. Walk away and forget about it. Move on."

Those words hung bitterly in the air, but Naruto felt a second wave stirring, and did nothing to stop it when he started. "And fuck, I gave you a chance. I gave you many chances to fix whatever crap came between us. Did you think all those fights were for nothing? That I fought with you just because I liked to hear the sound of my own voice? That I enjoyed bringing out feelings that I should never have opened my mouth about and sure as hell didn't want to relive?"

"Naruto, I was stupid back then."

"How much could you have really changed in four months? Really, Sasuke, I'm curious. Where is this sudden revelation of love, jealousy and possessiveness – _where_ is it all coming from? Is it just because I'm leaving? Who's the scared one here, Sasuke?"

"I am."

He hadn't expected Sasuke to agree as it had been a rhetorical question, but it didn't deter him from believing it himself. "You are. You don't love me, Sasuke. You're just scared of losing me."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it?" he crossed his arms.

"I'm scared because I am losing you. And I don't want to lose you because I love you."

"You don't love me."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't!" he yelled. "The only reason you can't see things my way is because I've found someone else and you haven't. Move on, Sasuke. It'll be good for you."

How could he even suggest that? "I don't want anyone but you."

"You can't have me! Sasuke, do you remember why we broke up? What problems that became too big for us to handle with each other?

Sasuke rapidly became even more uncomfortable, knowing that it had originally been his idea to break up. "We wanted… different things."

_Yeah, silly me, I wanted you to love me, _Naruto thought cynically as he reminisced. "You wanted something that you couldn't get when you were with me."

_So I thought we'd be better off as friends. You saying you love me here and now, it means nothing._ It was empty, because given the circumstances, there's no way it could be true on its own. Not anymore. _He's only scared of losing me; of deviating from what he knows is comfort and safety. He doesn't want me. He wants something, anything familiar to go home to._

_I refuse to believe that that is love. _

_**TBC**_

_**Review! You know you want to :D**_


	4. Part IV

**Part Four**** of Eight**

"I can't pretend to be your friend."

"So, what? It's all or nothing?" Sasuke's sharp intake of breath served as his answer. "Jesus, don't _do_ that to me, Sasuke! Don't! Stop! Just stop." Naruto growled into the balled up fists pressed tightly against his forehead.

Sasuke tucked a leg beneath him and moved closer to the blond on the bed. "I promise," he said firmly. "I _promise_, Naruto. I'm not just saying this to hurt you or make you feel bad. I'm sorry that I feel this way, but that's what it's come to. That's where we are."

The fists opened and slammed into the mattress. "Why is that where we are? Why is it so hard for you to look at me in the eye and call me your _friend_? What actually stops you from being around me," he cried, insistence dripping with every word, "knowing that that's all I'll ever be to you?"

"Everything! It's everything!" Sasuke, retorting, matched Naruto's tone perfectly. "You mean so much more to me than that, that I can't stand the idea of anyone else claiming the spot you should have been in. Or you replacing _me_. Yeah, I'm jealous," he spat, mirthlessly and dreadfully at the same time. "Yeah, I'm possessive. I _want_ you, hell, I _had_ you. I can't just forfeit that! So it has to be you, Naruto, it has to be you!"

Naruto's eyebrows drew together and with his mouth agape in disbelief, he shook his head to further it. "Goddamn…" he breathed. "You would think that after all this time..." He panted, suddenly very tired. "I feel like we're breaking up all over again."

Once again, Sasuke clouded most of his vision. Once again, he made Naruto only want to say the things he knew Sasuke would want to hear and to do the things that would please him, as if nothing else were even slightly more important. But obviously, he couldn't do that anymore. He had had to stop himself from thinking that way the minute they said that they were over.

And of course, there was _him_ to think about. How would he feel if he saw Naruto, distressed and crying over something that should have been buried by now? How would he feel if he saw his own boyfriend, for whom he was putting his affairs in order just to gallivant frivolously around the map for the next month, crying, doubting their relationship for another man, an ex?

No. He'd already fucked up one relationship, he wasn't about to sabotage another one because of his stupidity. He refused to make the same mistake again.

"I can't look at you as a friend anymore, why can't you look at me as your boyfriend?"

Naruto grabbed a picture frame from the top of a shelf. "This man! Right here!" Two men, one smiling a bit wider than the other, in front of unfocused greenery on a sunny day, a comfortable arm around the one.

Sasuke wanted to throw it out the window. He grit his teeth and abandoned every strip of tact he had. "Then get rid of him."

"Sasuke!"

"What? It's not like you're cheating on him." He said, knowing he sounded like a child; a spoiled, self-centred child demanding exactly what he wanted with no regard for anyone else's feelings. He was very much aware, but should the worst happen, and should this whole… _thing_ turn out fruitless, he wouldn't regret keeping it inside. He might have said it better, though. "Just break it off. You know you want to be with me instead." Perhaps.

Naruto was just as outraged as he should have been. "Shut up!" he yelled. "He's done nothing to deserve that! You, however. You wanted this too. I recall you saying that you'd be better off without me. It was a mutual break up, Sasuke. Where did your side go?"

Underneath his squashed pride. The pride he left behind on Naruto's porch, ready to be put back in to place like a mask, again, should he walk out of there the same way he walked in. -Fruitlessly, with nothing to show for the last few months. He was an Uchiha after all.

Though dissuaded by all aforementioned things, he did put some thought into this 'visit'. He had thought some parts out. For example, the following phrase that he'd realized not too long ago:

"There's no point in staying in a relationship that you don't want just because you're too scared to be the one that breaks it up."

Naruto stared directly into his eyes, not missing a beat. "Who says I don't want him?"

That, Sasuke _hadn't_ thought of. And he couldn't seem to find any falsities, staring right back at Naruto. He couldn't think of what to say next. What do you say to that? Sasuke's chest felt heavy as though sinking, very slowly, into quicksand.

"You know what? You're right. It's stupid to mediate." Naruto had shot off the bed, out of that line of ocular fire, looked away and seemed determined to look at everything at once as well, like finding his thoughts around the room and putting them in order with his eyes. "Trying to go back to what we had after all this is a fucking folly."

He paced, changing his path every few half steps, but for this he turned right to the raven still on the bed, shooting his words out with all he had left, "You want all or nothing, then I choose nothing," he snarled, letting it all out, hoping the older teen would miraculously understand the malice in his voice. "I would rather sacrifice what kind happiness and whatever sunny picture I had of you and me, and find something else, whether better or worse, than go back to you."

He didn't let the next stare down _bring _him down. He cut it after making sure Sasuke had heard him and moved out of the line of sight again, continuing his slip-shot pacing around his bedroom.

Once upon a time, it had been _their _bedroom, which reminded Naruto of yet another rebuttal. "And you fucking forfeited the minute gave back your key."

_**TBC**_

_**CHAAA ~ Review ?**_

_**YHS  
>xDelfin <strong>_


	5. Part V

**Part Five**

"Why are you so adamant about this?"

"Because one of us has to be. There are things that you can't just take back."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. You took my virginity; why can't I take that back?" he spat, genuinely annoyed at that point.

"Naruto-!"

"What? It's a legitimate analogy!" It was like a chemical change. You could try really hard for the matter's physical properties to revert, but the chemical properties would forever be warped.

"So that's it? I make one wrong move, one crappy decision and now I can't fix it? Now that I know what I did wrong?"

"Yes, that's exactly what this is!"

"Why?"

"Because I said so, that's why!"

"Give me a good reason!"

Naruto snarled. "You want a good reason? I'll give you a good fucking reason. It's because I'm scared too. He let a few tears out with this. "I've endured both my parents' death, discrimination, the tip of poverty, abuse from people I've never even known before, all, I've put up with my whole life. You know this." And Sasuke did, well enough. "You'd think I'd have some pretty thick skin by now.

"So how do you think it feels for someone who's endured a crapload of shit, to be brought down, by someone who was supposed to be there for them? Even more when that person was first, and foremost a friend? I opened myself up to you. When we were in third grade. When we were in sixth grade. When I gave you my virginity." He grinned humourlessly. "I gave you so much more than you realized."

Naruto hated saying all of this. It was a paradox in itself. He'd just implied how much he loathed opening himself up, now having felt the burn of it gone wrong. And to speak it in plain words, simple sentences, nearly downsizing how much it meant to him, by _saying_ how much it meant to him…! Was explaining it all not opening himself up as well?

It was all just so fucked up.

"So excuse me for being scared of pain. For wanting to prevent myself from making the same mistakes again. For trying to be with someone who actually gives a damn."

_**TBC**_


	6. Part VI

**Part Six****  
><strong>  
>He's never said what he means, but does that mean he never means what he says? Naruto couldn't verify that contrapositive right now; but in any case, it had been Sasuke's actions that had originally gotten him closer to the man, all those years ago.<p>

"You want kids? Some of your own? Carry on the Uchiha legacy? You can't have that with me," he explained, seriously, and with only a sliver of spitefulness in his voice. "You want the world to recognize you as a brilliant man? Powerful, resourceful, untouchable? You can't do that with me in the picture. You want your parents' approval?" He took half a beat, while Sasuke just watched him, emotionlessly. "Guess what, Sasuke? I don't belong there with you. I realise you have your dreams and that was your reason for breaking up in the first place. But those work for me too. They become part of my reasons for believing that it's useless with you. _I have no future with you_."

Suspending reality, and for a second, believing that Sasuke could actually love him now, where would that leave them? He could never pop out mini Uchihas. The business world would never take him seriously should they find out about a male lover he kept at home, and the in-laws would never accept Sasuke being gay, much less with someone so … like him. It was a dead-end, and Sasuke could do better than that.

On the side of his mind, he wondered, _'Did it ever hurt to think about me? How broken my heart is? Was?'_ He mentally shook his head at the slip, but the tears in his eyes had already confirmed the present tense of his meaning.

"I'm an Uchiha regardless of who I'm with, what profession I decide on, or what my dreams are. I understand that now. But even if my family doesn't get that, it doesn't make me any less of who I choose to be. I am an Uchiha. And by that name and everything it is, I swear, Naruto, if you take me back now, I swear I'll never let you go."

Naruto rolled his eyes. Even swearing by his name, that was of course something he took seriously, by now, they were just empty words. Like the phrase 'I love you' was nothing more than a phrase. Sasuke's never said this much before.

Maybe that meant what he said carried more truth. Maybe on the contrary, it meant less. But Naruto wasn't used to such declarations, and therefore by human nature, did not immediately place trust in the unfamiliar. "Really?" he jested, completely unconvinced. "Never?"

"Never."

The confidence in his voice, startled Naruto into looking into Sasuke's dark eyes. And as soon as he did, it clicked in his mind. The thought came so impulsively, that he wavered. "Did you-?" He narrowed his eyes. "You didn't just-." Naruto shook his head, trying to not undermine his doubt. Sasuke's face remained in stone,effectively nullifying the uncertainty. "You-!"

He tried to take a step back, but met a strategically placed wall instead. "Naruto…"

"Sasuke-!" he warned. "Don't-"

"Please marry me."

_**TBC**_

_**Ekk. Next chapter is the one that follows directly after this one. I had to.  
>Review, please!<strong>_

_**YHS  
>xDelfin <strong>_


	7. Part VII

**Part Seven of Eight**

"Are you insane?" Naruto bellowed. "Have you lost your mind?" His whole body wracked with tremors, he didn't know what to do with himself. He's breathing picked up in pace, trying to keep up with all the blood needing oxygen, pumping away by his traitorous heart. He couldn't look at Sasuke, the man a mere foot away from him, so he tilted his head back and looked around the ceiling, trying to understand what was happening. "How? How can you not understand? _I want nothing to do with you_!"

The words affected Sasuke enough for him to step back, giving the blond some space, and unconsciously giving Naruto the 'OK' to look at him again. "Why would you even ask me that?" He was shaking.

"Because if I didn't, I'd regret it," Sasuke said lowly. "And that's something you told me to live without."

It was something _both_ of them remembered the blond boy saying, specifically… on their first date.

There was a difference between memorizing the lesson and remembering where you learned it from, because where you learned it from had an effect on how you applied it. Something shattered inside him.

"What is with you today? You're completely different." This was definitely a different Sasuke from the one he'd ended a relationship with four months ago. Other than the obvious increase in free speech, Naruto couldn't pin down the rest of the overwhelming aura the man in front of him radiated with. Would he believe that the man he'd known the same way for eight years to have changed over the course of four months? Was that even possible?

Doubtful.

"I am different. But I have been for a while; not just today." He could feel Sasuke's intending gaze, but he kept his eyes forward, holding himself back from focusing on the blur in his peripherals. "I speak truthfully when I say I need you in my life. I suppose you can verify the phrase 'you never appreciate something until it's gone.' I just hope – _I pray _– that you aren't too far gone already."

"Sasuke…" the raven looked at him, hopeful, so Naruto didn't hesitate to put him in his place. "Gaara."

"Right." Sasuke looked away, and it was appalling to see how quickly he could change from confident to abashed. "I guess it really _was_ stupid to ask for you back. It wasn't fair to you or to him, even though I couldn't give a damn about him."

Naruto had no response. His head was spinning. This was too much to handle. But little did he know that Sasuke's next words would break through to him even further.

"But… I know, once, you loved me too. So, Naruto," he stepped right in front of where he stood to look him straight in the eyes and it was the most magnificent, most terrible thing Naruto could do to stand there and stare back. "If ever you decide to love me again… I'm here."

He shattered. Completely, this time.

"Why didn't you say anything?" he said through the chokes in his throat. "I was here for you. I stayed in this town _for you_. And when you shot me down, I had no reason to be here," he ranted without pause for breath, tears continuously falling from his face. "These past four months have been a nightmare," he whispered it and it came out harsh and forced. "and now that I finally have the balls to leave and make my own way, you… you-!" He fuelled this scrambled feeling towards his frustration. It was all so unfair that he wanted to scream.

Even after being the one taking the step in the direction of moving on, only Sasuke could make him feel as though it was not a step out of courage, but out of cowardice; making the steps he would be taking into a run in slow motion, toward a new place he'd picked to hide.

"I am not a weak person. But I always feel so fucking powerless when I'm with you!"

"…Was being with me really so awful?"

Naruto sighed heavily and dried his tears with his sleeve. He took a deep breath and replied honestly. "Those things I said before were just the bad parts about it. But the good ones," he paused, thoughtfully. "… they don't matter at this point."

Sasuke observed him, and apparently read a lot into what he saw, because he said, "I guess I'm too late then." and it reminded Naruto of how in awe he used to be when Sasuke read him instantly and effortlessly. Was anyone else capable of doing the same thing? Was he that transparent? Or was it just Sasuke?

"A bit."

_**TBC**_


	8. Part VIII

**Part Eight of Eight**

A warm, August morning, where fresh leaves began to decorate the streets of Vancouver, BC, was when Sasuke Uchiha paid a visit to his best friend's house. The boy had lived in a simple, one-story house for the past eighteen years of his life, and just until recently, the bright red letters spelling the word 'SOLD' across the hanging sign of the lawn, had become a sight to see every time the Uchiha walked up the grey, single-car driveway. Today, in that driveway, held the recycling bin that Naruto liked to call his car. The hood of the trunk was left open, while the suitcases beneath stayed secure with some bright fluorescent string. Sasuke didn't pay another fraction of his mind, walking up the three wooden steps of the country-style, wrap-around porch of the horizontal-planked home.

Blond-haired, blue-eyed, five-foot-seven, cut off jeans and nubby orange sweater-clad, Naruto answered the door. "Sasuke," he greeted with mild surprise.

"I'd like to talk. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Naruto let go of the door to push it out of Sasuke's way. Once inside, Naruto turned the brass bolt shut, looked at his visitor for a split second before leading him into his bedroom. Sasuke stood in the middle of the room, while the other closed the door behind them.

Sasuke surveyed the space. Half of everything was in boxes; books, clothes, junk. The off-white, peach colour of the walls was visible, the posters and stickers having been removed and leaving adhesive residue and patches, where old paint should have been, in random outlines. Sasuke slowly nodded at his friend's packing progress. The room was like a heat map, the bed and its surroundings being the hot spots where most of it remained unchanged and undisturbed. Things further away were what was different, ultimately bare and in the boxes adorning the floor. Sasuke side stepped the ones in front of the bed, sitting at the foot of it, across from where Naruto had taken his own seat beside the pillowcase-less pillows. He looked around, somewhat awkwardly with his hands still stuffed in his own dark-wash jeans. There was a lot of silence for a while, the only sound drowning out the particles in their brains, being Naruto's neighbour, some hundred and fifty yards away, being a pretentious middle-aged man and using a leaf blower.

"Naru—."

"Sasu—."

They laughed, and it eased the passing of the stale silence quite a bit, that Sasuke felt it in him to work right off it.

"How long have we been friends?"

Naruto rested his chin on his knees and stared up at the plastered ceiling. "…Eight years?"

"Sixth grade?"

"Yeah, yeah! That was when you stopped pushing me over when I came to sit beside you at recess."

"Oh, right. I wanted to read about the war of 1812 and you kept poking me, asking me if I wanted a hug," Sasuke mused with a smile. "You did that every day for a month, before you started reading what I brought out that day."

"You pushed me over every time I got too close," Naruto laughed. "said I kept breathing my lunch down your neck." They both chuckled at the memories, each one leading to the next, further back into their past. "Oh, but we actually met way before that."

"We did?"

"Yeah, I remember. Third grade. I sat beside you in the beginning of the year cuz of our last names," he waved his index finger at the eighteen-year-old version of the Sasuke in his memory. "My crayon was flat and I didn't know you could rip the paper off, so I asked if I could borrow your green." Sasuke stayed quiet for Naruto to continue, and the blond smirked as he did. "So you bit me."

"I what?" Sasuke yelled, disbelievingly.

"You, Sasuke Uchiha, gave me that famous death-glare, which definitely got better over the years, not so pudgy, grabbed my arm and bit me." Naruto smiled. "I cried for the rest of the day."

"I don't remember that..." Sasuke said, honestly.

"You never got in trouble for it." Naruto shrugged. "You would have at least remembered it if I had told the teacher."

"You didn't even tell on me? And this was third grade?"

Naruto's smile remained.

"Wow." Sasuke nodded. And then he decided to re-summarize. "So we've known each other for...twelve years. We've been friends for eight of those years." Now came the time when they both smiled tightly and nodded. The pleasantries were getting old. Sasuke let out a small sigh. "It's been… months."

"Four months."

"Four-four months..."

_**End**_

* * *

><p><strong><em>Hello, my readers. Yes, it is done.<em>**

**_I do have another little piece written kind of like the scene in between or after when credits would roll.  
>If you'd like to read it, just let me know, Leave me a lil reviewtoo please :]<br>Thank you thank you, everybody!_**

YHS  
>xDelfin<p> 


	9. Part IX

_**Extra**_

* * *

><p>"Do you think, maybe, asking you out that day was also a mistake? Royally fucked up our friendship.."<p>

The blond furrowed his eyebrows, staring at nothing. "It didn't have to, Sasuke," he said shaking his head. "I know things aren't the same, but things were different every day. With or without calling you my boyfriend."

Sasuke took that very moment to memorize the thoughtful expression on Naruto's face, knowing that come whatever sight he'd see until the very last second of his life, nothing would be as simply true and real as this one.

"I changed, little by little each day, because I had you in my life. Friend or lover." The words were just as new to Naruto, even though he was the one saying them. He'd never thought about this aspect of their relationship before. But it didn't deter how easily the words left his mouth, because even though he'd never consciously brought his mind around it, it was a simple truth he'd already known he'd lived by.

Sasuke turned his head to look out the window, to the once ever-so familiar view of Naruto's backyard while the blond, sitting cross-legged on his bed, continued to stare at nothing.

He began to remember the summer days he'd spent sitting out in the sun, the winter days he'd watched Naruto constructing bad sculptures out of snow. He remembered when they had planted the tree, now surrounded by fallen, orange leaves. He remembered the first time he'd came to Naruto's house, back when they were kids and they just _hung out_. Just two little kids, the oddest of friendships binding them together, shaping the lives that would lead them into today.

"You were there. I grew up with you being there."

Then Sasuke smiled an imperfect smile.


End file.
